ABSTRACT

Qualitative methods of business research are emerging as vital tools. Business anthropology is at the heart of this movement. Although many recent books provide nuts-and-bolts advice regarding the field, Rethinking Business Anthropology: Cultural Strategies in Marketing and Management discusses the intellectual traditions from which the discipline has emerged and how this heritage opens up new vistas for business research. Gaining these broader perspectives is essential as business anthropologists transcend being mere research technicians and seek to influence organizational policies and strategies.  Opening chapters deal with the current status of the field and its relationship to ecological and cultural sustainability. This is followed by discussions of the intellectual foundations of anthropology and their continued importance to business anthropology. An array of chapters provides illustrative applications of business anthropology in order to demonstrate the field's unique and powerful potentials within both scholarly and practitioner research.  The book concludes with a discussion of the role of business anthropologists in dealing with indigenous people, rural populations, and cultural enclaves. Increasingly, businesses seek to connect with such communities even though mainstream leaders and negotiators often lack the skills necessary to effectively do so. Business anthropologists, with their dual background in business and cultural diversity are poised to excel in this capacity.  An appendix by Robert Tian, editor of the International Journal of Business Anthropology, provides a useful overview of the field as it now exists.  As business anthropology comes of age, this timely monograph provides the perspectives needed for the growth and further development of the field and those who work within it. Excellent for the professional bookshelf and as a textbook.

part |39 pages

Business Anthropology, Indigenous Views, and Sustainability

chapter 1|12 pages

The Maturity of Business Anthropology

Policy and Strategy in a Global Age

part |50 pages

Pioneering Ideas

chapter 6|14 pages

Existentialism to Postmodernism

Alternatives to Structural Analysis

chapter 7|13 pages

Marxist Theory and Business Anthropology

part |61 pages

Anthropological Perspectives in Cultural Analysis

chapter 8|11 pages

Studying Cultures at a Distance

chapter 9|19 pages

Myths, Symbols, and Business Anthropology

chapter 10|14 pages

Archetypes and Business Strategies

chapter 11|15 pages

The Price of Fame

Business Anthropology Looks at Dysfunction

part |42 pages

Business Anthropology in the Developing World

chapter 12|7 pages

Tribal Management in an Evolving World*

chapter 13|7 pages

Negotiating with Indigenous People

chapter 15|14 pages

Strategies of Empowerment